South Western offers customized learning plans

Some instructors are shying away from the traditional teaching approach at South Western High School and providing their students with the tools to learn at their own pace.

South Western School District is in its second year of its six-year customized learning program, which aims for each student to have a voice and a choice, said Supt. Barbara Rupp. The program offers innovative ways for teachers to instruct their classes using technology, giving more responsibility to each student.

The idea resulted from a conference Rupp attended and a book she read, "Inevitable" by Bea McGarvey and Chuck Schwahn, which talked about putting students first.

"That's always been our philosophy," Rupp said about South Western School District. "I just knew this was going to work for us because it outlined what we believe in."

Eric Barshinger, ninth-grade social studies teacher at South Western High School, is in the midst of his first year organizing his classroom and using the customized learning approach.

For example, he uses a method he calls the hybrid-rotational model with flexible grouping. After students are given a pretest on a lesson, he groups them into three sections based on their knowledge of the topic that was tested, Barshinger said. Each group is then assigned a different way of learning, which differs day to day: solo, collaborative with other students or teacher-based.

"It was difficult to reach each student where he or she is at on a learning level," he said about teaching before customized learning.

Barshinger believes splitting his students into smaller groups makes it easier to facilitate conversation. The students feel more confident and are not fearful of being judged because they're with those on the same level, he said.

Since each student has his or her own laptop, Barshinger creates online folders that include prompts for the day that each group will work on.

In each section, the technology proves itself a great tool by allowing Barshinger to make learning more interactive, he said.

Students can watch YouTube videos or clips from a movie and test their knowledge with interactive note cards, all in one lesson.

"This way of learning allows teachers to give our students more," Barshinger said. "It's all about student engagement."

Although students are separated in groups, their positions are not set in stone, he said. Barshinger assesses how each student is progressing based on the work they submit through online lessons.

Barshinger collaborates with Rick Dellinger, another social studies teacher at the high school, about ways they can improve and implement their customized learning methods.

Dellinger follows the same approach as Barshinger, splitting his 11th-grade Intro to American Government class into three small groups.

"This type of learning gives us more time to meet students where they are," he said.

Dellinger makes a learning map available to each student that outlines the core concepts and essential questions to be answered in each lesson, he said. The map is the basis of what will be tested, so although students may be learning in different ways and at their own pace, they are learning the material to meet the goals in the learning map, he said.

"Customized learning is a way to reach all learning styles," said Dellinger.

Rupp is positive by year four the customized learning program will be fully implemented, she said, and the district will continue to set new goals in the curriculum.

"We'll see where we can progress from there," said Rupp. "We'll probably take some main ideas from students since they'll be more involved in the design of education."